"Our schools should teach our children our nation’s true and honest history," Noem said in a statement Monday. "They should teach about our successes in establishing a country that is a beacon of freedom to the world and our mistakes along the way. Our children should not, however, be taught the false and divisive message that they are responsible for the shortcomings of past generations and other members of our respective races."
The Republican governor's legislation would ban a curriculum that teaches any "race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin is inherently superior or inferior." It guides students to "feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin."
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The bill would also ban education that people of any group are "inherently responsible" for "actions committed in the past" by someone who shares their characteristics.
The education of Critical Race Theory has become a dispute across the country, with South Dakota joining 17 other states that have presented legislation intended to prohibit the practice. Florida, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Iowa, and Idaho have banned or restricted critical race theory curricula in their schools. Efforts to do the same in Mississippi and Arizona failed.
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"Some of this stuff is, I think, really toxic," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said of Critical Race Theory curricula before the state Board of Education banned the teaching in schools earlier this year.
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"I think it’s going to cause a lot of divisions," he continued. "I think it’ll cause people to think of themselves more as a member of a particular race based on skin color, rather than based on the content of their character and based on their hard work and what they’re trying to accomplish in life."
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The 2022 Legislative Session begins on Tuesday, Jan. 11, with the State of the State address.
In July, Noem signed an executive order banning the South Dakota Department of Education from applying for the available $2.1 million grants in history and civics because she was concerned over ties to Critical Race Theory.
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The American Bar Association said in January 2021, CRT “exposes the ways that racism is often cloaked in terminology regarding “mainstream,” “normal,” or “traditional” values or “neutral” policies, principles, or practices.”
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The proposed bill comes as the method to set South Dakota’s new social studies standards has been delayed.
It is the third legislation Noem has publicly introduced. Last week, she announced legislation to “Protect Fairness in Women’s Sports,” which would affect athletes from kindergarten through college. She also declared, “restore protections for prayer in schools.”
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